Fence-making apparatus.



No. 686,748. Patented Nov. l9, 19m.

J. n. MARTIN.

FENCE MAKING APPARATUS.

(Application filed Apr. 16, 1901.)

(No Model.)

13m Ill 5 Illm ...nllllll ILM m M n W Altar/12y UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN D. MARTIN, OF MOOREFIELD, ARKANSAS.

FENCE-MAKING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 686,748, dated November 19, 1901. Application filed April 16, 1901. Serial No. 56,067. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN D. MARTIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Moorefield, in the county of Independence and State of Arkansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fence-Making Apparatus; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of ref erence marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This apparatus relates to new and useful im provements in apparatus for making fences, and especially to the provision of a set of sprocket-wheels which are mounted in brackets on a board or bar, and which wheels are slotted to receive two stationary and parallel wires that pass centrally through the wheels, while the wires which are to be twisted about the panels of the fence are held bya notched or recessed disk as the sprocket-wheels are caused to rotate.

The invention will be hereinafter more fully described and then specifically defined and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which, with the letters of reference marked thereon, form a part of this application, and in which- Figure 1 is aside elevation of my apparatus shown as applied to the parallel wires which support the panels of a fence. Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail view of the apparatus. Fig. 3 is a detail view of the tension device. Fig. 4=is a side or face view of one of the wiretwisting wheels. Fig. 5 is a sectional view centrally through the wheel shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a detail View of a wire-holding disk. Fig. 7 is a sectional view of the disk shown in Fig. 6, and Fig. 8 is a detail view of the brackets which support the twisting-wheels.

Reference now being bad to the details of the drawings by letter, A designates one of the stationary posts of a fence, to which the ends of the large parallel wires B are securely anchored. O designates a second stationary post, to which the other ends of said wires are securely anchored, being held by a tension device which may be of any suitable construction.

D designates one of the upright panels of the fence, and E designates a board or bar to the edges of which are secured in pairs the brackets F F, which are eoncaved, and serve as journal-bearings for the sprocket-wheels H H. Each of said sprocket-wheels has about a portion of its circumference a series of sprocket-teeth H, about which a sprocketchain J passes. K designates a third sprocketwheel, which is mounted upon a crank-shaft K, which is suitably journaled to said board or bar E, and said sprocket-chain passes also about said wheel K and also about an idler N. To the crank-shaft is secured a suitable handle M. Each of said sprocket-Wheels is recessed, as at O, radially from the center of the wheel, and about the circumference of the wheel, at one side of the series of sprocketteeth, is an annular groove H in which said brackets rest. One end of each wheel II is recessed, as at h, and a headed screw I is secured to the end of the wheel and in said recess.

P designates a disk which is slotted, as at P, radially from the center of the disk, and Q designates a curved slot in the disk, through which said screw I passes. This disk has a partial rotary movement limited by the ends of said slot Q, and in the edge of the disk is a notch Q. At the outer end of the radial slot 0 is an offset 0, the outer wall of which offset is coincident with the shoulder formed by recessing the end of the wheel.

Each of the wheels H is of similar construction and rotates int-he bearings formed by the bracket-arms F F, arranged in pairs with their free ends spaced apart, as shown.

Secured to the board is a handle R, whereby the device may be hold while the wires are being adjusted to the apparatus.

In operation the board is first placed in an upright position against the stationary post A, the two large parallel wires B are placed one in each radial slot in each wheel H, and the panel-retaining wires T, which have been previously securely fastened to the tensionhooks T on the post G, are passed into the notches Q, and each disk P is then partially rotated and securely fastened by set-screw I. Each wireT will rest in the offset 0 from the radial slot. The wires having been thus adjusted, the apparatus is in condition for operation when a panel has been placed against the two large wires and adjacent to the edge of the board E and between the wires B and T. The small wire passes around each panel and alternately in directions around the large wire to prevent twisting them together in front of the apparatus. By turning the handle M the small wires may be twisted one or more times about the large wires and then the apparatus moved along to a position to fasten the neXt panel.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim to be new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. An apparatus for making panel fences, consisting of the sprocket-wheels having radial slots extending to the center of each wheel, a sprocket driving wheel and chain passing about said wheels, the end of each slotted wheel recessed, a radially-slotted disk seated in said recess, a headed screw passing through a curved slot in said disk to limit the rotary movement of said disk, the edge of the latter being notched to cooperate with an offset in the slot of the sprocket-wheel to hold the wire to be twisted about parallel wires which pass centrally through the slotted.

wheels, as set forth.

2. An apparatus for twisting Wire about panels of a fence, consisting of the sprocketwheels radially slotted, the disks, each also slotted and seated in a recess in the end of said slotted sprocket-wheels, the notch in the edge of the disk cooperating with an offset in the slot of the sprocket-wheel to hold the wires to be twisted about parallel stationary wires which are held at the inner ends of the slots of the sprocket-wheels, combined with the curved brackets engaging annular grooves in said wheels forming bearings for the same, and means for rotating said Wheels, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN D. MARTIN.

Witnesses:

G. L. SENBIRTH, R. 0. JENNINGS. 

